LIVING THE CM DREAM: Laux has wanted to coach Eagles basketball since he ‘was a kid’

Laux has wanted to coachEagles since he ‘was a kid’

Ross Laux is the new boys basketball coach at Civic Memorial High. A CM grad, Laux had been an assistant coach under former coach Doug Carey, who resigned in May.

Submitted photo

BETHALTO — Ross Laux is living his dream. For real.

When Laux was named as the head coach of the Civic Memorial boys basketball team earlier this week, it meant the fulfillment of a childhood dream. It’s a dream shared by lots of Bethalto kids, according to Laux.

Call it living the CM Dream.

“I’ve wanted to coach the Eagles since I was a kid,” Laux said. “Every kid who grows up in Bethalto and loves basketball wants to become the CM coach someday. I always did.

“When I was a little kid, I wanted to play for the Eagles and when I got out of high school, I wanted to coach the Eagles.”

And after Monday night’s vote by the board of education, Laux has his chance. It will be his second head-coaching job. from 2009-2010 to 2014-2015, he was head coach at Beardstown High School.

“I was fresh out of college and a head coach,” Laux said of his hire at Beardstown. “I thought I knew everything. I found out I didn’t, but we were able to do some good things.”

At CM, talk of a family atmosphere isn’t just a pipe dream either. It’s real, in more ways than one. Not only are many graduates eager to return and coach at their alma mater, they literally keep it in the family some cases.

Laux takes over for Doug Carey, who resigned in May. The Eagles were 22-10 last season, won a regional title and shared the Mississippi Valley Conference crown. Carey’s older brother Steve retired last year as CM’s athletics director and longtime golf coach and both were standout CM athletes.

So were Ross Laux and his older brother Ty, who also served as the Eagles boys basketball coach from 2003 to 2012. Ty Laux had a 136-132 record in nine seasons. His best were a pair of 25-5 records in his first two seasons. The Eagles were also 22-7 in 207-2008.

In six seasons at Beardstown, Laux’s Tigers went 85-96, but had winning seasons the last three, including a 17-win seasons in 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 and a 19-win campaign in 2013-12.

Laux said he’s drawn on the advice of many coaches to develop his own style.

“Brian Rea at Payson-Seymour has been so much help,” Laux said, ” and so has Coach (Neil) Alexander at Lincoln. And Coach (Mike) Waldo at Edwardsville has helped me enormously.

“In the summers, I would go watch Edwardsville’s workouts and sit down and ask Coach Waldo all kinds of questions. He knows a lot and he shared a lot. All the coaches I asked did. Actually, some of them said they were surprised more younger coaches didn’t ask them.”

Laux said he has a plan for establishing the kind of program he wants at CM.

“I have a vision of what I want it to be,” Ross Laux said. “It starts in grade schools and goes all the way up through high school. The most consistent and successful programs are that way. I want it to run from third grade through 12th grade. Everybody will be on the same page. I want to be the face of Bethalto basketball, not just of CM High School basketball.

“Through the years, CM basketball success has come in waves,” he said. “We’d have four or five years of great teams, but then some down years. We have the talent, but we need to keep consistent and be patient. This won’t happen overnight – it could take two or three years or maybe 10 years.

“I want people to be proud our basketball program every year. When people think of CM, I want them to think of CM basketball.”

Laux said he’s also drawn on the example set by one of his best friends, CM girls basketball coach Jonathan Denney, who has turned that program into a consistent winner.

“Just look at what Coach Denney has done,” Laux said. “There was a time that program didn’t have the same success it does now. He has done it the right way.”

Ross Laux is the new boys basketball coach at Civic Memorial High. A CM grad, Laux had been an assistant coach under former coach Doug Carey, who resigned in May.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_628RossLaux.jpgRoss Laux is the new boys basketball coach at Civic Memorial High. A CM grad, Laux had been an assistant coach under former coach Doug Carey, who resigned in May. Submitted photo